


Tavish's Proposal

by hanktalkin



Series: Proposals [2]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Crossfaction, Fights, M/M, Making Up, Marriage Proposal, Sneaking Around, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-11 11:58:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12934797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanktalkin/pseuds/hanktalkin
Summary: Tavish proposes to Jane.





	Tavish's Proposal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thanatoaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thanatoaster/gifts).



> part of my gift exchange with YourChickenMan, with my version being the one where Tavish proposes. Marry Christmas!

The tattoos were Soldier’s idea.

The two of them were in Tavish’s room, one of the rare instances where Mrs. DeGroot was gone for the weekend and the couple were free to lounge around the mansion as much as they pleased. Jane was pressed into the corner where the bed touched the wall, stretching in the warmth of the room. Beside him, Tavish’s sighed contently, his hands exploring the Soldier’s naked body as they relaxed in the post-coitus haze. His fingers found their way into Jane’s shoulder, and began rubbing muscles Jane didn’t even knew he had.

“Unnnggg…” Jane groaned, melting into Tavish’s touch. “Keep that up private and you’ll earn yourself a promotion.”

Tavish laughed, pulling a pillow under his head so he could look at Jane more comfortably. “What an incentive.”

Despite the sarcasm, Tavish obliged the Soldier, and kept up the soothing pace.

“Where’d you get this one?” Tavish asked, after a minute, tracing his hands lower on Jane’s stomach. The caresses stopped over Jane’s tattoo, the one with the shovel and the words _Hard to Kill_ emblazoned over it.

“New York, somewhere,” Jane hummed pleasantly. “Must’ve been only a year or two after I got back from the war.”

“And this one?” Tavish’s hands found their way back up to Jane’s shoulder.

Jane frowned at the pin-up girl. “Don’t remember. Before I left maybe?” The realization that he had no clue of the timeframe of his own body made him moderately uncomfortable, cutting through their lazy afternoon with bitter realities. “I don’t remember most of them actually.”

“Oh,” Tavish said, halting. He probably sensed he was on the verge of a dangerous subject.

“But that’s okay,” Jane said quickly. “I think that’s what I like about them. Even if the memory fades, I still have something to hold onto from the past. Something I can’t drop down the toilet by accident.”

Tavish propped his chin up. “I’m still never going to forgive you for losing my grandmum’s wedding ring that way.”

“It wasn’t my fault!” Jane put his hands up defensively. “Who leaves priceless family heirlooms in the bathroom? And especially where the heart medicine is supposed to be!”

Tavish snorted, and rolled closer to give Jane a kiss at the base of his neck.

Jane smiled, loving how easily they fit against one another. Tavish’s hand was still at his bicep, and Jane rested his own over it thoughtfully.

“But like I was saying,” he said, tracing a thumb over Tavish’s knuckles, “it’s nice to have something extra. A permanent reminder of everything that’s happened, proof that you existed before now and maybe are going to keep existing to get another one.”

He trailed off, thinking about the ink forever etched in his skin. It felt right that Tavish should touch it, like it was anchoring the Demoman too him.

“We should get tattoos,” Jane said suddenly.

Tavish pulled his head back, resting it on the pillow and raising his eyebrows.

“I was just thinking,” Jane stumbled on. “It makes sense, doesn’t it? I know we met each other a lot later in life than most people do, but that’s just like tattoos. Ones that come later aren’t any less meaningful. They’re proof that they’re going to be on you forever, or I guess _with_ you forever.”

Tavish looked down at the pin-up girl. “So you want us to get matching ones?”

“Well…yeah.” The idea was spur of the moment, but it felt right the more Jane managed to sputter it out. “Just to symbolize…us. I want something to show that you’re the world to me. That I’ll be with you for the rest of my life.”

The look Tavish gave him made him blush for some reason. Usually Jane wasn’t good with expressing his feelings, but once he’d started it wasn’t so bad. Now, however, Tavish’s face was blank, only his eye betraying a hint of awe as it widened in Jane’s direction.

Squirming under his gaze, Jane asked, “bad idea then?”

Tavish shook his head as though clearing thoughts. “No! I mean, yes? It’s a great idea, I love it.”

“Good,” Jane breathed out a sigh of relief. He could never tell if he was being weird or not.

“Er…” Tavish hesitated. “In fact…why don’t you let me arrange something for us? I…er know a guy who’d do it well.”

Jane nodded, casting his eyes over Tavish’s body. The curvature of it was just right, beautiful and glowing, making Jane love the man it belonged to all the more. Jane reached over and trailed a hand along Tavish’s face.

“Is this guy you know…going to be cool?” Jane frowned at the hippie slang, but didn’t know a better way to ask.

“Cool?” Tavish blinked.

“With…you know.” Jane put a hand on the space between them. “Us?”

“Oh!” Tavish laughed. “Aye, super cool! It’ll blow your socks off lad, that’s how cool he is.”

It was a weird sort of laugh, one that sounded like Tavish was still a bit nervous underneath. But his smile was genuine, and he pulled Jane a bit closer.

“Don’t worry Jane. I’ll get the whole thing sorted. Just you wait and see.”

* * *

It was brisk the morning Tavish picked him up, and Jane huddled in his light jacket to keep out the December chill. It was nicer in Tavish’s car, not the least because the Demoman was already giving him a lopsided smile.

“What are you so cheerful about?” Jane said grumpily. Tavish was a few minutes late, and the extra time in the cold had soured Jane’s mood.

“Nothing,” Tavish said quickly. “Just er, excited about tonight!”

“Tonight?” Jane asked. “Aren’t we going to get the tattoos done now?”

“Er, no.” Tavish shifted in the driver’s seat. “The appointment’s for this evening. But I figured, since it’s the start of furlough and all, we could go out and spend the day together.”

Jane opened his mouth and closed it. There was no reason to object to that besides Jane’s own crankiness, which was a terrible reason to turn Tavish down. Besides, a date with Tavish always managed to cheer the Soldier up at some point or another.

They pulled into one of the many desolate towns that littered this corner of New Mexico, each one indistinguishable from the other. They were small, grimy, and knew better than to question the goings on that happened in the badlands beyond. It was all so interchangeable that Jane didn’t even recognize this particular one until their walk in the park took them under a very familiar looking statue.

“Hey!” Jane said. “We got arrested here!”

Tavish grinned widely. “That we did. I’m glad you remembered.”

The giant bronze George Washington peered down at them, awakening memories in the chilled Soldier. It had been years ago when they’d last been here, the air just as cold, forcing Jane to stand in the draft of the first president.

At the time, he hadn’t wanted to be there. Now Jane could look back and say that it’d been good for all of them, but his past self was too busy shivering and cursing Spy’s name. His fellow BLU had tricked him, stranding him here under the pretext of an “intervention,” and that his team wouldn’t let him back on base until he’d finished sulking.

It was through his bitter mutterings that he finally spotted Tavish.

The enemy Demoman hadn’t noticed him back, too busy looking angry himself. He was unrecognizable from behind, no red clothing to speak of, and brown fuzzy hat replacing his beanie. But when he turned, his profile solidified the heart in Jane’s chest, a heart that only got heavier as the Demo recognized him.

Jane sighed at the memory. He rested his hand on Washington’s shoe.

“What’d they eventually saddle us with?” he asked over his shoulder. “‘Disturbing the peace’?”

Tavish laughed. “Aye, that was it. Don’t know what got into their brains about that. It’s almost like they couldn’t tell the difference between two friends making up and an actual row.”

Jane smiled, but not as widely. Because it _had_ been real at the time, pushing both their buttons as they’d try to slam each other in the wet grass, hearts pounding as curses were thrown. It’d taken the entire town police force to tear them, the grown men kicking and screaming all the way.

The making up hadn’t happened until later, when they were crammed into a holding cell together and waiting for an earful from their respective employers. Tavish had been leaning against the brick, one hand holding a tissue to his missing tooth, when he’d coughed up _I thought we used to be better at fighting the police_.

Things went from there. Bickering that didn’t have the heart, wounds bared for everyone to see—sniffling, apologies, confessions, all ending on the floor while the two of them held each other and sobbed. RED and BLU had finally collaborated on something worthwhile: fixing two broken friends.

“Hey!” Jane said, looking down to where his hand touched the shoe. “Some of you’re blood’s still here.”

Tavish sidled up to him to see he was right. “Ha! Glad we left our mark on this place somehow.”

Jane and Tavish spent some time below the statue while the sun set so early in the day. They kicked their feet while Tavish placed a hand over Jane’s own.

* * *

Later, they found dinner at restaurant not too far from the park. They dug into their ribs with gusto, faces dripping with sauce and drawing disgusted glances from the other customers. The two men didn’t care. They never did, not when there were racks to clean and bawdy jokes to be had.

Wiping off his face with a napkin, Jane looked contently across at Tavish, who was still waging war against a particularly tough piece of meat. A smile crossed the Soldier’s face. It was hard to look at Tavish and not love him, not with a meal in his belly and good conversation fresh on his lips. Ribs in particular were a special meal, a favorite food of Jane’s that had bleed over into their relationship until their love was stained with barbeque sauce. Tavish always took him to a new ribs place when something significant happened in their lives; the day he’d asked Jane to move in, or the night after their reunion. No matter what, the taste always brought back happy memories.

“Something on your mind, laddie?”

Jane blinked, not aware of the dreamlike look that had settled on his face. He shook if off in embarrassment. “Nothing special.”

Tavish smirked softly, as though knowing exactly how much Jane was lying.

The Soldier didn’t know why he was so sappy all of the sudden. Jane lived most of his life in the present—as any warrior should!—and didn’t consider himself particularly sentimental. And yet, tonight it seemed like the whole world was conspiring to remind him just how much he loved his best friend.

“Ready to get going?” Tavish asked, sliding his coat on.

Jane nodded, doing the same and managing to get minimal sauce stains on the bill. “Off to our appointment?”

Tavish hesitated. “Er, no. There’s still a good few hour or so on that.”

“Really?” Jane wondered what sort of tattoo place would be open so late. “What time is it?”

Tavish evasively looked at his watch and said, “about seven-thirty.”

“I mean what time is the appointment.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Tavish said. “Let’s just get back to the car.”

Jane followed him, but not before raising his eyebrows at the back of the Demoman’s head. Tavish had been acting weird all evening, since the moment Jane got in the car and they’d started their date. Heck, even before that when Jane had first brought up the idea of getting matching tattoos. Jane didn’t think it was something to get that worked up about, but then again he’d already been inked quite a bit; maybe Tavish was anxious about his first time?

“Tavish,” Jane said as the Demoman attempted to put keys in his car. “Are you worried about this?”

“What? No!” Tavish said, jolting so hard he dropped his keys. “I-er, couldn’t even be _less_ worried. Is there a word that’s the opposite of worried? If so, I’m that.”

Ever since one of BLU’s many interventions threatened to have real consequences—in the form of Engie not making flapjacks for breakfast anymore—Jane had been practicing his empathy skills. He had quickly rescinded his statement that Texas was stupid, and promised to be more considerate of other people’s feelings from then on. Now, after several years of training, he could read people’s feelings much better and determine that Tavish was extremely nervous for some reason.

“If you don’t want to get them, that’s fine,” Jane assured. “We don’t have to. Or we can just put it off for now.”

“No!” This time, Tavish said it so forcefully that Jane took a step back. Tavish cleared his throat, and said more calmly, “I mean, no, it’s alright. I’ve just got…jitters.” He took a deep breath and stepped forward to take Jane’s hand. “Before, you said this would mean something important between the two of us. That you think we could last forever. Do you still feel that way, or is the only reason you’re suggesting we call it off is because you think _I_ don’t feel that way?”

“Uhh…” Jane blinked. “The second one.”

Tavish squeezed Jane’s hand. “Then don’t worry about it. Come on, there’s someplace we should go.”

Jane let Tavish go and then situated himself in the passenger seat, wondering how normal people managed this whole empathy thing.

* * *

“Where are you taking us?” Jane joked as they town grew smaller behind them. “You cashing in on another hit out on me?”

Tavish chuckled, and it felt good that their pain was so in the past they could laugh about it. For months after they made up, the mere reference of the War would make them tense up like a couple of over-tuned fiddles.

“Can’t a man take his boyfriend out on a nice drive to the middle of nowhere without him suspecting foul play?” Tavish said, smiling over at Jane.

“I’m slow to trust. Been hurt too many times.”

Okay, maybe that one was a bit too on the nose. Jane saw Tavish’s smile waver.

“Just er…sit tight,” Tavish said. “You’ll see soon enough.”

And he did. They pulled up to a familiar looking patch of land, the soaring piles of gravel contained by an ailing chain-link fence.

“Tavish is this…Gravel Pit?” Jane blinked at the long forgotten map, its cameras dark and the road up to its entrance so unused the desert had begun to reclaim it.

Tavish looked over his shoulder and winked, already scaling the fence.

“Hey! Wait up!” Jane charged after him. Whatever Tavish was up to, no way did Jane want to be left behind.

They were no strangers to sneaking about, but usually they conducted property damage at old grain silos or ugly looking train stations, not places that were still disputed by RED and BLU. Tavish didn’t have any explosives on him either, and instead went to the final capture point, motioning Jane toward the ramps.

“C’mon!” the Demoman called. “View from the top’s always the best.”

Jane followed him, feeling odd using the provided ramps instead of just rocket-jumping to the top. But the trudge was worth it; when he finally hauled himself to the highest platform, he was greeted with the sight of Tavish daggling his legs over the edge and motioning for Jane to join him.

“Isn’t that beautiful?” Tavish asked, the Soldier sitting beside him at his precarious position.

It was. It seemed like they were inside the stars the, tower so high above the rest of the map they were practically flying. The world stretched out before them; not just the Gravel Pit buildings, but the badlands for miles around. Jane scooted closer, the cold from before only increasing with the loss of the sun, and the sole beacon of warmth was the body next to him.

“What made you think of this place?” Jane said, resting his head on Tavish’s shoulder.

Tavish shrugged, making Jane’s head bobble. “’S a good view.”

“We used to come here all the time,” Jane remembered suddenly. He hadn’t realized it before, but the sight of two sets of feet gently kicking jogged his memory. “Back before they War. When we really wanted to see each other, we’d sneak out, and rocket jump up here so no one could see us.”

“ _You_ used to rocket jump,” Tavish said immediately, like the memory was already on the tip of his tongue. “ _I_ would use a man’s weapon.”

“HA!” Jane barked. “Like a secondary that requires hiding behind corners could ever be considered a _man’s_ weapon.”

Tavish shoved Jane, just enough to give him mischievous smirk. Jane grinned back, feeling like they’d had this exact same conversation here years prior.

“Don’t worry Tavish, I still respect you despite that,” he said solemnly.

Rolling his eye, Tavish said, “oh thank the lord. I’m so relieved.” He followed it up with a smile, gently placing a hand over Jane’s.

The motion reminded Jane again of their time atop the tower, the way he could seemingly talk about anything with the Demoman. At the time, it’d been novel, his first real experience with friendship, and more than once he’d just let all his feelings bubble up and spill out. Tavish had never minded. Jane hadn’t known it at the time, but he’d been desperate for a friend too.

They’d shared their first kiss, right here. The smell of gunpowder still hung from the day’s battle, the stars around them in the clearness of the night. The memory was so fresh in Jane’s mind, he wondered how he could have forgot it.

Tavish rubbed a thumb along Jane’s hand. “What’s on your mind, Jane?”

“…It’s a nice view.”

* * *

It was finally time to head to their appointment, as Tavish informed Jane with a nudge against his shoulder. Jane was grateful; the cold was getting seeping into his body even despite his coat. They made their way down, the long way of course, and returned to the car.

Jane wondered vaguely if Tavish had taken them up there on purpose, if he had known it was the place of their first kiss. He probably did—Tavish had always was better with dates, with faces…with everything really. Jane couldn’t imagine how he’d gotten so lucky, and with that thought and Gravel Pit still bouncing around in his mind, he didn’t even notice they’d stopped.

“Jane,” Tavish said, jostling the Soldier’s arm lightly. “We’re here.”

“Oh.” Jane leaned forward, looking out the front window. “… _This_ is the place?”

They were parked so close to it, the mass of the building was hard to discern in the blackness of the night. Jane peered at it, trying to make out where exactly they were.

“Aye!” Tavish said cheerfully. Too cheerfully. “Come on lad, let’s get these things done.”

Jane followed, still looking up at the building above them. Was this all a tattoo parlor? Did Tavish’s friend work illegally out of an abandoned warehouse while using dirty needles covered in hippie diseases? Why did the other buildings in the area look just as big and empty? But all those questions couldn’t overpower the sight of Tavish standing at the double-door’d entrance, looking like he was afraid Jane wouldn’t follow.

The Soldier shook himself and stepped quickly, never one to be left behind.

Inside was even darker, and once they were past the entryway there was almost no light in the cavern of the building. It seemed to be one giant room, like a hall or something.

“Tav,” Jane said, his voice echoing in the emptiness, “what is going on?”

“Just a little bit further, alright love?” Tavish said, and there was no hiding the plea in his voice.

Jane was confused—uncomfortable even, not knowing what he was getting into—but he wasn’t scared. He trusted that whatever Tavish had going on, it wasn’t something he would hide from Jane if it was in any way dangerous. So, Jane went on, following Tavish blindly through the dark.

They stopped near what was approximately the center of the room, footsteps still reverberating along the walls even after their shoes had stilled. Jane opened his mouth, to ask another question, but he heard Tavish fiddling with something. Suddenly, the light directly above the switched on.

It revealed a stand. At least, that’s Jane thought it was as he blinked away the sudden sun-blindness.

“Do you remember this?” Tavish asked, voice half attempted-suave and half bursting with excitement. “I mean, you’ve remembered everything else tonight…”

Jane walked over to the stand, and picked up a hand-held catapult that was resting on its surface. Several posters, advertising the catapult’s range and capabilities, were plastered along booth-style walls. Jane’s eyes widened.

“This is the place we first met…” he said softly. He turned to see Tavish beaming, looking like he might jump out of his shoes at any moment. “How…?”

“Mostly from memory,” Tavish explained. “It’s not perfect but…I was able to get the point across, eh?”

Jane looked down at the catapult in his hand and back up at the room. “This is…the convention center.”

The place of the projectile weapons that’d first brought them together. It was so obvious now—what with the doors they'd passed through, the building that stood apart from all the others...Somehow Tavish had perfectly reconstructed the lone booth that their first ever fistfight had so carelessly destroyed. Now it stood before the Soldier, alone in the great echoing hall, pristine like he’d taken a step back in time to the day everything had changed.

“…Why?” Jane asked. It was something that might be romantic on its own, but apparently Tavish had been arranging the whole night around significant landmarks in their relationship. The extravagance left him reeling.

“Because I wanted to go through it all again,” Tavish explained. “I wanted to remember all the good and bad along the way, and how we managed to get to where we are. And I wanted you to be thinking of it too when I did this.”

Tavish got down on one knee.

“When you said we should get tattoos,” he continued, “you said you wanted to be together forever. And I wanted to be together forever too, but I never realized how much until that exact moment. Because you’ve broken my nose more times than anyone, and broken my heart exactly once. I loved you through all the ups and the downs, and there’s no one I’d rather spend the rest of my life with.”

He fumbled, losing his poise just for a moment as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a ring.

“Jane Doe, will you marry me?”

“…”

Tavish waited patiently, his eye full of love and sparkling like the ring in his hand.

“Hnnn,” Jane managed to squeeze out. The moment Tavish had gotten on his knee, Jane had gripped the booth for support, and ever since trying very hard not to let his legs give out from under him.

“I know it’s a big decision,” Tavish sputtered on, as though his amazing speech was the problem and not the fact that Jane had tears in his eyes. “But this is what I want. And, er…from what you told me before, you want the same thing.”

Jane put both hands over his face, trying to hide his embarrassment as Tavish’s words hit home. He _did_ want this, but even after years of being with Tavish, the sheer enormity of how deeply he’d fallen for the Demoman still shook him. It had taken so long to accept he could be loved in the first place. And, even more than that, he’d _somehow_ found someone who’d perfected the art of loving Jane the way Sun Tzu had perfected the art of war.

“O-okay,” he sniveled, drawing his hands away from his face. Tears of happiness still rolled down his cheeks, and he had to wipe a bubble of snot away.

“Okay?” Tavish raised an eyebrow.

“Y-yes! I mean yes you maggot!” Jane ran forward, pulling Tavish up by his arms. He fumbled, trying to snatch the ring from Tavish’s hand and put it on.

“You have to let me put it on you, idiot,” Tavish half laughed half cried. Jane finally relented, letting Tavish slip the ring on his left hand and pull him into a sloppy kiss.

They held each other in the model booth, wiping tears from their eyes and failing to express how happy they were.

“It fits,” Jane mumbled when he finally looked down at his hand.

“Aye,” Tavish nodded. “It was my grandmum’s. She had very strong hands.”

“…Tavish. Is this the same ring I dropped in the toilet three years ago?”

“Well it’s not like I was just going to let a priceless family heirloom go to waste. You made your watery bed, now lie in it.”

“I hate you,” Jane said, and kissed Tavish harder than he ever had before.


End file.
